|
Pop
Culture Press Around the World
Return
to Part 2
Eccodek - More Africa
In Us (White Swan)
Eccodek is the project of Canadian musician/producer
Andrew McPherson and in many ways, is the embodiment
of the idea that world music can find common
ground in blending geographical disparate styles.
Based in Guelph, Ontario, McPherson pulls a
wide range of global influences into the Eccodek's
musical crock pot. The core of the music is
sort of mellow ambient techno with different
African, Asian, and dub influences and rhythms
dropped on top. It is a decidedly mellow affair
that delicately toes the line between hypnotic
trances and new age yawns. Most of the time,
it remains compelling, especially when McPherson
brings the African singers and musicians (from
Rwanda and Mali) together with echo-heavy dub
production.
Hazmat Modine - Bahamut
(Barbes Records)
 How
do you describe the music of Hazmat Modine?
Old time jug band blues mixed with gypsy and
klezmer styles, Tom Waits compositional sensibilities,
and a little taste of just about any global
style you can envision thrown in for good measure.
Fronted by dueling harmonica players Wade Schuman
and Randy Weinstein, this is the sound of traditional
American music with a global village makeover.
Mostly, it's a blues record, but a far more
inventive and rootsy one than you are likely
to hear elsewhere in bluesland. That's not to
say that it isn't without its peaks and valleys,
but it never fails to be rousingly entertaining.
Lataye - Tou Manbre
(Dadisound Productions)
Outside of the Fugees, Brooklyn-based Lataye
is the first group I have heard with Haitian
roots. Lataye's goal is to bring the traditional
music of Vodou from the Haitian countryside
together with the rock, pop, and other styles
to create a style known as Rasin Mizik or "Roots
Music." Led by Daniel "Dadi"
Beaubrun, Lataye's music vacillates between
very traditional chanting, rhythmic songs and
music that wouldn't sound completely out of
place next to Ziggy Marley (which may be due
to the singer's vocal similarities). The more
traditional tracks fare better than the more
pop-oriented songs, but the record as a whole
is always intriguing and really lovely in places.
Music of Central Asia, Volume 2
- Invisible Face of the Beloved (Classical
Music of the Tajiks and Uzbeks); Music
of Central Asia, Volume 3 - Homayun
Sakhi (The Art of the Afghan Rubab) (Smithsonian
Folkways)
The first installment in the Music of Central
Asia series from Smithsonian Folkways and the
Aga Khan Trust for Culture was a stunning collection
of music from Kyrgystan featuring several artists
playing different styles. The next two CDs foucs
more on individual artists and styles. Volume
2 focuses on music of Tajiks and Uzbeks, specifically
a sophisticated, haunting style called Shashmaqam,
once featured as royal court music hundreds
of years ago. Performed by an ensemble group
from Tajikistan, this record is a passport to
another place. Volume 3 focuses on Homayun Sakhi,
an Afghani master of the rubab, a sixteen-stringed
instrument similar to a lute. This CD features
only three tracks, two of which go past the
30 minute mark, so this is a record to either
let yourself get completely lost in or put on
while housecleaning. Fans of Indian ragas may
find this especially compelling. Both CDs come
with an additional DVD and 32 page informational
booklet.
Pedro Luis Ferrer - Natural
(Escondida)
 Cuban
singer/poet Pedro Luis Ferrer has managed to
record and perform in his native land even while
not being on the top of Fidel Castro's list
of favorites. Ferrer's style is fairly straightforward
with him playing the tres (small guitar popular
with Cuban son players) and singing his wonderfully
wacky compositions with the help of two female
singers and a deft percussionist. An example
of what you are in for (and maybe why ol' Fidel
doesn't dig it) comes from the first track "Fiesta
de mujeres" where Ferrer sings: "Julie
removes her skirt/The party is only beginning/Eva
takes off her blouse, her belt/Loosens her hair,
her bra/Marihuana in the bathroom/Hallucinations."
Then we find out that the women of this gleefully
debauched scene are actually all Martians.
Prince Diabate - Djerelon
(Kora Company Collection)
Prince Diabate is an accomplished kora player
from the West African coastal nation of Guinea
and is currently based in Los Angeles, where
he has recorded with the likes of Ozomatli.
For Djerelon, he returned to the Guinean capital
of Conakry to record with local musicians. Played
throughout West Africa, the kora is a 21-string
instrument that is sort of a cross between a
harp and lute, and DIabate is rightfully regarded
as a master of this complex instrument. The
instrumental arrangments on Djerelon will remind
listeners of many of the fine recently released
recordings by Malian artists, as the record
also reminds us that these musical styles are
not defined by political borders and can be
found throughout the region.
Shahrokh Yadegari - Migration
(LilaSound Productions)
This record combines the violin of Keyavash
Nourai with the sounds of the Lila, a computerized
musical instrument invented and played by Shahrokh
Yadegari. Based in the Los Angeles-area, Yadegari
was supposedly inspired by a mockingbird that
had built its nest on top of Yadegari's house.
While enjoying the bird's nightly songs, Yadegari
wondered what would happen when he recorded
and played back the bird's own singing to itself.
He then decided to use this idea with acoustic
musicians, putting his background as an electrical
engineer and PhD in music to good use in creating
Lila. On Migration, Yadegari uses Lila with
Nourai's violin to create an interesting trance-like
take on traditional Persian styles. This is
a very subdued and ambient record, but makes
for a fascinating listen if you want to let
yourself be taken away by it.
Sila and the Afrofunk Experience
- Funkiest Man in Africa (Visila Records)
Native Kenyan and current resident of San Francisco,
Victor Sila brings together his deep Afrobeat
influences with a band of slick Bay Area jazz/funk
musicians on Funkiest Man in Africa, which has
been described as a direct musical tribute to
Afrobeat king, Fela Kuti. It isn't quite up
to the level of the legendary Nigerian's recordings
and the band is grittier and less grovvy than
Fela's band, but Sila is a charismatic vocalist
who sings in both English and Swahili while
the band holds its own. Listening to this makes
visions of hibiscus margaritas at the fabulous
Bissop Baobab (Senegalese restaurant in San
Francisco's Mission District) go dancing through
my head. Sigh…
Smadj - Take It and Drive
(Rasa Music)
Jean-Pierre Smadja or simply Smadj, is a Tunisian
born musician based in Paris. His background
may be as a jazz guitarist, but his Take It
and Drive record shows virtually none of that
origin as it takes the listener on a wild journey
into an electronic style full of North African
chanting, laptop-created sounds, and touches
of guitar and oud. The result is an intoxicating
journey that is perfectly suited for doing exactly
as the title says.
 Toumani
Diabate's Symmetric Orchestra - Boulevard
De L'Independence (World Circuit/Nonesuch)
Diabate (whose main instrument is the kora,
which is a sort of harp, lute hybrid) and his
Symmetric Orchestra might be making their first
foray outside of the borders of Mali, but in
that nation's capital of Bamako, the group is
well-known for its Friday night appearances
at Hogon, a popular music venue. The music reflects
Diabate's vision of a revival of the Mande empire,
which once encompassed many of the nations of
West Africa including Mali and neighboring Guinea.
Ivory Coast, and Burkina Faso. The result is
a sound that is bigger and reflects a broader
and more eclectic set of influences than the
rootsier Malian music of the likes of Ali Farka
Toure, to whose Savane record Diabate
contributed.
So that connection between Diabate and Toure
brings us in a complete circle and provides
a fitting end to this roundup.
End
back to top |
